Coral reef structures support an incredible diversity of life and are often called “rainforests of the sea”. Just like rainforests, they have spurred decades of debates and theories among community ecologists to understand what promotes coexistence among apparently similar species and maintains such high levels of diversity. However, the theory for coral reef communities is largely lacking in comparison to its terrestrial counterparts.

My PhD research aims to investigate a fundamental ecological theory, the Janzen-Connell Hypothesis, to highlight aspects that are increasingly being shown to be of importance in coral community ecology. Specifically the role of species interactions during coral recruitment. My research will also investigate the biogeography of the obligate symbiotic association between reef-building corals and Symbiodinium which is of paramount importance to the success and survival of the coral host.